Although most staff engineers don’t have direct reports, some do. A tech lead manager (TLM), sometimes called a team lead, is a kind of hybrid role where the staff engineer is the technical leader for a team and also manages that team. It’s a famously difficult gig. It can be challenging to be responsible for both the humans and the technical outcomes without feeling like you’re failing at one or the other. It’s also difficult to find time to invest in building skills on either side, and I’ve heard TLM folks lament a loss of career progression as a result.
